This week saw National Common Courtesy Day on the 21st, National Puppy Day on the 23rd, and National Spinach Day on the 26th. Of course, you'll benefit from being kind, petting a puppy, and eating spinach, but the information in the following studies is going to do even more to improve your well-being.
Gun violence. Firearm-related deaths have overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death by trauma in the U.S., according to a study in Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open. In 2021, there were 20,835 non-suicide, gun-related deaths and more thna 24,000 gun-related suicides. If you own a gun, lock it up separate from the ammo. Easy access to firearms makes impulsive behaviors irreversible.
Vaccine update. As always, people with weakened immune systems, age 65-plus, or needing fast protection due to risk of severe disease should get a second Pfizer or Moderna vaccine three to four weeks after the first one. Everyone else? Wait eight weeks between shot one and shot two — immunity becomes longer-lasting and young men may reduce their risk of vaccine-related myocarditis.
Meaty mistake. Looking at more than half a million people over age 11, Oxford University researchers found that low meat-eaters had a lower risk of colorectal cancer, vegetarian women had a lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and men who were vegetarians or fish eaters had a lower risk of prostate cancer.